Twins 99 Volume 1 – How Heroes Start Chapter 5: Vigilante Training

Today is May 4th. It has been a week since Dad introduced us to the Simulation Room. In that week, we took turns training in it two times a day. Dad put me in the same situation every time. I repeatedly run away from a rockalanche. It is a pain, but at least my timing is consistent. My longest time is 15 minutes. When I finish training, I would usually join Dad and watch Jovan fight gotham-like thugs. Most of the time, Jovan would either start off good or start off sluggish. You'd think he'd start off better every time, since he practices every day. Well, I guess I can't talk. My time was 15 minutes every time so far, but it's better to be consistent than consistently inconsistent. However, Jovan always ends his training on an amazing note. It’s so eye-freezing that it makes you think a black Robin is possible. All in all, we have improved. Right now, it is late at night. Jovan and I are watching anime. “Man, no matter how many times I watch this, I just can't get enough.” “I know, borderline hentai have the best fanservice.” We happily concur. “Even the voices are a pencil sharpener.” I state while scratching the zipper of my pants. “What?” “I'm saying I'm getting turned on by the voice acting.” “Why would you tell me that?” Jovan gives me a disturbed look. “You asked.” No, I didn’t. All I said was what.” “Yeah, meaning that you wanted to know what I meant.” “I only said one word. That could've led to anything. Like, what is the time, what anime are we watching next, or what is a normal reason for telling me about your dick?” “Okay, asshole. Maybe, there's something about anime that brings out the honesty in me.” “Well, be careful because your honesty almost took you out of the closet.” Jovan mocks. “Shut the HELL up.” “I do get what you mean. The voices fit perfectly with the characters.” Really? So, he understood me the whole time. “Javon, Jovan, wear these. We’re about to…” Dad comes into our room with unknown bag and immediately pauses once he sees the anime we're watching. “This is the type of anime you watch.” Dad shows us an expression on his face that just says “really”. “Wait, Dad, before you say anything, we’re only watching this anime for the plot.” I got nervous. “The only plot I see is BREASTS.” “That’s because this anime offers a bit of everything.” Jovan hesitantly replies. Dad didn't believe a word we said. “Okay, then let's watch the rest of it.” Dad sits in our room’s couch and watches the episode with us. We don’t say a word as he basically sees “sex in the anime”. Everytime he looks at us, we automatically look away. Dad pauses the episode before it finishes. It feels like we just got caught watching porn. “We will have a serious talk about this later. Now, put these on. We are going to head out soon.” Dad gives us his bag. “Where?” Jovan asks. “You'll find out.” “Oh snap, this means...” I enthusiastically note. “Yes, you will be staying up past your curfew.” “No, inside of this bag is our superhero uniforms, right?” “Sort of.” Dad answers. We take a glance inside of the bag. We are staggered right away. “They are black long sleeved shirts and black jeans.” “You forgot SKI MASKS! What are we doing, robbing a bank!” “And, how are these sort of superhero outfits?!” We whine. “Calm down, I chose these outfits because there is a gang out there called “Them” and they wear the same thing. If the police look into you two, they'll just assume it was that gang who did it.” Dad explains. “The person who created that gang has to be an IDIOT.” Jovan adds. “How will they know it was the gang that did it?” I wonder. “I'm going to have you two write a note saying shit about “Them”. It should be pretty believable since you have the outfits.” “But, we are doing good deeds. Aren’t we just giving the cops a reason to let that gang run free?” “Javon, you know Batman and Spiderman. What did they both start off as?” “Vigilantes.” “And did the police automatically presume they were good?” “No.” “So, do you think the cops will praise the gang or focus on them and eventually arrest them?” “The second one.” “Exactly.” “Wouldn't they also be focusing on us?” Jovan asks. “No, they'll just think you're random people apart of “Them”. What, you think the police have someone like L with them.” Dad facetiously utters. “No, I was thinking they might have someone like Near with them.” Jovan jokes. “Shut up.” Wow, Dad somehow made this whole criminal imitating thing make sense. I don't know why, but I'm speeding up. Yeah, that’s clever. “Alright, let’s do this. I'm speeding up.” “Don’t say that.” Dad demands as Jovan and he look displeased. “Anyway, I'll say this. Today, I will be watching over you guys, however this will also be the only time I'm watching over you two so please be careful. Don't beat up “Them” because that would have the police focus on you two afterwards. Don't let the police catch you. Don’t reveal your identities. Make sure you leave the note, saying that you are with the “Them”. Just don’t do nothing dumb.” “Okay.” We obediently say. “Okay now, put those on.” We put on the criminal clothing and head out of the house with Dad. “You’re not going to wear some ridiculous outfit?” “No, Jovan, he is not. Wait, Dad, you should wear a Bane costume. You don’t have his color, but you have his build.” I recommend while feeling exhilarated. “I have a plan if I’m seen so I don’t need a costume. And, Javon, I’m not going to wear a Bane costume. Why would I want to look as dumb as you two?” Dad loudly laughs. That was not funny. “Let’s get going.” Dad grabs us and jumps up to the top of our house. “What the?! Dad, what are you doing?!” Jovan says with a scared look on his face. “It isn’t obvious? We’re going to search for crime.” Ah snap, this is definitely some vigilante shit! This is going to be awesome! We’re going to be jumping across the buildings like the teenage mutant ninja turtles! Dad puts us down. “I’m believing the fact that you can hop across these houses on your own. Don’t fuck up.” Dad orders, looking poker-faced. “Don’t worry, I won’t.” “Do you know where the crime is happening?” Jovan asks as he tries to hold in his excitement. “I have an idea. For now, just follow me.” ALRIGHT! I jump to the house next to ours. “Wait!” Dad commands and I stop. “Wait until we get into town.” “Okay.” We leap across people's houses and eventually reach the town, where there are multiple buildings that are close and connected to each other. “Now, you can go crazy.” “Yeah, THIRTY MINUTES LATER. Why couldn't you drive us to town?” Jovan grouses. “Okay, let's say the police catch you two in the act. How will we look if we're in a car chase with them?” “Oh.” “Even if we escape them, they'll track us by my car. And, didn't you want the vigilante experience?” “Yeah.” “So, what's the problem?” “Nothing.” Jovan lies with an honest face. “Dad, can I use my superspeed now?” “Yeah, you can. It’s just straight up ahead anyway.” I immediately dash across the buildings and leave Jovan and Dad. “Damn. How do you know the crime is straight ahead?” Jovan wonders as they are jumping from building to building. “Because, I can literally see the criminals.” Dad shows Jovan a device that displays the villains’ movements. He sees the criminals sneaking past people in a ridiculous fashion. “Dad, How?” Jovan is dumbfounded. “I have several hidden cameras throughout the entire town. What, you ACTUALLY thought we were going to blindly search for criminals?” “No, I just thought you had a good sense of direction.” Jovan sarcastically replies. “You know how long that would’ve took?” “A couple minutes.” Jovan guesses. “Try a couple hours.” “To look for a crime scene?” “Yeah, this town is small. Believe it or not, crime has decreased this month for some reason.” “Oh.” Dad thinks to himself for a moment and Jovan suddenly gets a text from his phone. “Why did you bring your phone with you?” “Just in case. I got a text from Javon. He says he sees criminals.” Jovan affirms. “He’s THAT far away from us.” “He could have told me faster with his superspeed than a text.” “He doesn’t know that. Come on, let’s get going.” Jovan and Dad continue leaping across the buildings and catch up at me at some time. “Look.” I say as we spot the criminals entering a store. “You two know what to do, right?” Dad asks. “Yeah, we go in there and stop the crime like Batman and Robin.” I answer while feeling animated. “No, like Batman and Batman.” “What?” Jovan adds, looking confused. “There are no sidekicks.” Dad elucidates. “Oh.” Jovan and I utter. “Now, stop the crime. I will be watching you from the sidelines.” “Wait, how will you…” “Don’t worry about it.” Jovan interrupts my sentence as we jump off the building and enter the store. We see 7 thugs with a handful of money and a terrified pharmacist. We also notice some candy, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, and a bunch of medications. “They’re robbing a DRUG STORE!” We deduce in our minds. “Who the hell are they?” “Oh shit, they’re apart of “Them”!” Two of the thugs speak as they see our outfits. “Damn, that sounds so stupid.” We both conclude in our heads. “Wait, if they are with “Them”, then aren’t they on our side?” “Are you two on our side?” Two of the thugs question. “No, we’re the things you dream when you sleep.” I respond while trying to sound cool. “Dude, shut up. Remember, we’re apart of “Them”.” Jovan whispers in my ear. “You’re going to lynch us?!” One of the thugs alarmingly imagine. What the?! THAT’S NOT A DREAM! “No, we’re “Them”.” Jovan uncomfortably asserts. “I don’t dream about “Them”. Do you dream about “Them”?” “I dream about “Them”.” Two thugs comment. “Enough talk.” Jovan rushes towards to the thugs. Really, the guy with superspeed should be the first one to rush at the thugs. I bolt at them with superspeed and the thugs start shooting at us. The pharmacist stows away behind an aisle of drugs. One of the bullets close in on Jovan. In a flash, Jovan’s blue eyes activate on their own and he avoids the bullet as it almost reaches his left eye. Jovan smiles as he begins eluding the bullets. I easily dodge the bullets and punch one of the thugs through the candy aisle. Then, I quickly uppercut another thug up to a light bulb and the light bulb instantly breaks on contact with the thug’s head. “Wow, these guys are easy.” Afterwards, a bullet nearly reaches the side of my face. So, I decide to sprint to the counter and hide. That was WAY too close! “Oh, I know! You want our money. Well, you’re not getting it!” A thug states while shooting at Jovan. Jovan promptly closes the distance between them and elbows him to the wall. Jovan continues evading the bullets and quickly finds a cover behind an aisle of drugs where the pharmacist also hided. Jovan observes a strange-looking container and takes the paper off of it. “What the hell? These look like steroids.” Jovan infers. “So, you figured it out.” The pharmacist abruptly goes behind Jovan and puts a knife close to his neck. “I’m impressed. The cops didn’t even realize it and they looked straight at the damn label. I should’ve expected as much from a member of “Them.”” “There’s no way a gang member would figure that out unless they were apart of the gang who did it! I can’t believe this!” Jovan says to himself. “You got any last words before I slit your throat like spaghetti?” The pharmacist wants to know. Out of nowhere, the ground starts shaking. The items in the store are dropping, the lights started flickering, and the ceiling slowly begins tearing down. “What the?! An earthquake?!” The pharmacist says as he slips and falls to the floor. He accidentally throws his knife while I punch a thug across the store. Unfortunately, the thug I hit got... “GOD DAMMMMMMN!!!!!!!” A thug screams after the knife pierces through his left hand. DAMN. That has GOT to hurt. The knife is literally stuck in the thug’s left hand. Everyone, including Jovan and I, give him looks of pity. “That’s it! You two members of “Them” are going to die! AAAAAHHHHHH!” The thug yells as he reloads his gun with the hand that has a knife through it. “AAAAAAHHHHHH!” The thug repeatedly cries and shoots ammo at me. I immediately run away and hide behind the counter since all of the thugs also start shooting at me. “Even with superspeed, he still runs away.” Jovan points out. “You don’t have time to be worried about him.” Jovan is unexpectedly smacked through 2 aisles. “Who the? Ah shit.” Before Jovan’s eyes is the pharmacist. With the bodybuild of Bane. “How is this even possible?!” “It’s possible because of these steroids. It only takes one to get this big and strong.” “Steroids don’t work THIS fast.” Jovan comments as the pharmacist shows him one steroids pill. “Owwwwwwww, I feel like I’m losing my mind!” The pharmacist charges at Jovan and tries to tackle him. Jovan, with a horrified face, scarcely evades his blitz which causes the pharmacist to crash through 2 aisles of beer and liquor. “Shit, is that the pharmacist?!” “Who cares? Shoot the thief in front of us!” Two thugs add as I’m still stuck in at counter, avoiding shots to my body. Did they really just call ME the thief? What can I do? If I get shot, I’m done. Superspeed can’t fix that. “Crap.” One of the thugs say as they all run out of bullets. I guess that’s my cue. I jump out from the counter and dash to the thugs. In a short amount of time, I knock three of the thugs unconscious. “Ha, didn’t take long.” The last thug hastily reloads his gun and starts firing at me. I hurry back to the counter. Now, there’s only one thug. The one with a knife in his hand. “Is he going to keep hiding back there? Whatever, I’ll get him out of there. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” The thug shouts and declares after spotting an object near the counter. He aims at the object and shoots at it. Was he trying to get me? He completely missed. “Ha, your aim is inspiring.” I sarcastically respond while an explosion blows me away. The explosion entirely demolishes the counter and leaves the area with debris. I land towards the thug. “Ah, dammit.” I hopelessly comment and put my hands up. “My aim is inspiring. So inspiring, it’s going to kill a member of “Them”.” He points his gun at me. God, please save me. I don’t even care how you save me. It could be an earthquake or something. The earth begins trembling again. The thug fires at me and misses. “Son of AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, again!” The thug shrieks in anger. I watch as he reloads his gun and the floor quivers again. The thug drops his gun. OH! This is my chance! I bolt towards the thug and give him a quick jab to the face. He falls hard and unconscious to the ground. Finally, that’s the last thug. I don’t know how those earthquakes happened, but THANK GOD. Now, where is Jovan? Unexpectedly, Jovan is hit towards me and we fall into detritus. “Dude, where have you been?” “Fighting the pharmacist.” Jovan painfully answers. “You’re getting your ass kicked by the pharmacist?!” “Why don’t you look in front of you?” I look up and see a Bane look-alike. “Holy shit.” I utter with a speechless face. “Exactly.” Jovan adds. The pharmacist momentarily hurtles towards us and tries to assault us. I run to the other side of the store while Jovan hardly evades the pharmacist. Alright, time to do the punch that blew Everbleed away. I bolt at the pharmacist as Jovan continuously eludes him. Jovan hurriedly ducks underneath the pharmacist as I strike the pharmacist heavily in the stomach. The punch alone blows him out of the shop, leaves a huge hole on a wall, and creates even more rubbish. “I'm so awesome.” I brag with a smile. “You almost hit me along with him.” Jovan speaks out. “What did you expect me to do? Warn you? Dude, I have SUPERSPEED for crying out loud. By the time I warned you, you would've already been out of this store like that “thing” over there.” “Still, give me some sort of signal.” “I can't signal you in microseconds.” I solemnly boast. “Shut up, you're not even that fast.” “Jovan, Javon, quit it.” Dad somehow commands. “What the? Am I hearing Dad? Because, I'm definitely not seeing him.” I comment. “Really? It's the invisible earpieces I gave you two a couple hours ago.” Dad affirms. “Oh yeah, I remember.” Jovan pretends to say with emotion. “You two really forgot. I gave you them today!” Dad yells at us through the earpieces. “Yeah, Dad, I honestly forgot.” I respond, feeling pathetic. “Wow, okay. Hurry up and write a note, saying that crap about “Them”. After that, get out of there.” “Yes, Dad.” We both reply. “So, did you bring the paper?” Jovan asks. “Uh…” I search all of my pockets and find nothing. “Are you serious?!” “Shut the hell up. I don’t want Dad to hear.” I mumble in Jovan’s ear. “I can hear you. You literally whispered it in the earpiece.” Dad points out. “You two better think of something because the cops are close to this area.” Okay, I have to find something to write on. I already have a marker. Jovan and I search the entire store. “I found nothing. Not even a receipt.” Jovan guarantees. Dammit! There’s nothing! “Come on, what can I write on?!” I desperately wonder while looking at the unconscious thugs. And, a light bulb appeared on top of my head. I smirk at Jovan. “Wait, are you seriously considering that?” “Yes.” I answer. “No, that’s just disrespectful.” “We don’t have any other choice.” “Yeah, we do. You can just write on the counter.” “That’s destroyed. Jovan, this is the only option.” I walk towards the unconscious thug with a knife through his hand. I write on his left hand “This is what you get when you mess with “Them”.” “You’re such a dick. Why did you choose him? Out of ALL the thugs you could have chose. And, you wrote it on his LEFT hand.” “One, he almost killed me. Two, it’s more noticeable that way. Plus, this marker is permanent.” “Now, I feel even more bad for that thief.” Jovan adds. “Oh, look at that. I found a receipt. Well, it's too late now. Let's get out of here.” “And, I’m the asshole?” Jovan wonders in his head. We get out of the drug store and hurry back to our house with Dad. “So, based on what I saw, I'd say you two did horrible.” Dad concludes. “Horrible?” We note. “Both of you were too scared to attack them head on.” “I attacked them head on.” “So did I.” Jovan and I mention. “At first, Javon, yeah. But, once the bullet went past your face, you ran back to the counter. Jovan, you only knocked out one thug, then you dodged the rest of them.” “I was fighting the pharmacist.” “Dad, I almost died.” We claim. “Also, you both were in situations where you could have died, yet you chose to do nothing about it. I had to pound the ground to save you.” “Wait, that was you?” Jovan says. “Actually, that makes sense. Earthquakes don't happen at night.” Jovan and Dad directly look at me with a dumbfounded face for whole minute. “You can't be afraid anymore. Your fear has to go or that WILL be the reason you die. You also need to realize that you're not human. I'd rather you have the mindset of nothing can hurt you than the mindset of everything can hurt you. You two did complete your mission, still if I wasn’t watching you, you two would have been dead.” Dad clarifies. Dad's right. Our fear could have easily lead to our deaths. We really could have died. How can I be terrified of this when I've been dreaming of it? “I need to get my act together. To get rid of my fear.” Jovan decides in his mind. “Okay, stop the sad faces. You didn't die so it's fine. You still defeated the thugs. And, I decided to continue watching you for a little longer. Just know that from here on out, you're not normal people, you're members of “Them”.” Dad jokes to change the mood. “Really, Dad.” “Hahaha…” We laugh with joy. Just like that, Dad made us feel better. At the meantime, the police make it the trashed drug store. Surprisingly, an unknown purple haired female in a superhero suit watches as the police enter it. Today is May 4th. It has been a week since Dad introduced us to the Simulation Room. In that week, we took turns training in it two times a day. Dad put me in the same situation every time. I repeatedly run away from a rockalanche. It is a pain, but at least my timing is consistent. My longest time is 15 minutes. When I finish training, I would usually join Dad and watch Jovan fight gotham-like thugs. Most of the time, Jovan would either start off good or start off sluggish. You'd think he'd start off better every time, since he practices every day. Well, I guess I can't talk. My time was 15 minutes every time so far, but it's better to be consistent than consistently inconsistent. However, Jovan always ends his training on an amazing note. It’s so eye-freezing that it makes you think a black Robin is possible. All in all, we have improved. Right now, it is late at night. Jovan and I are watching anime. “Man, no matter how many times I watch this, I just can't get enough.” “I know, borderline hentai have the best fanservice.” We happily concur. “Even the voices are a pencil sharpener.” I state while scratching the zipper of my pants. “What?” “I'm saying I'm getting turned on by the voice acting.” “Why would you tell me that?” Jovan gives me a disturbed look. “You asked.” No, I didn’t. All I said was what.” “Yeah, meaning that you wanted to know what I meant.” “I only said one word. That could've led to anything. Like, what is the time, what anime are we watching next, or what is a normal reason for telling me about your dick?” “Okay, asshole. Maybe, there's something about anime that brings out the honesty in me.” “Well, be careful because your honesty almost took you out of the closet.” Jovan mocks. “Shut the HELL up.” “I do get what you mean. The voices fit perfectly with the characters.” Really? So, he understood me the whole time. “Javon, Jovan, wear these. We’re about to…” Dad comes into our room with unknown bag and immediately pauses once he sees the anime we're watching. “This is the type of anime you watch.” Dad shows us an expression on his face that just says “really”. “Wait, Dad, before you say anything, we’re only watching this anime for the plot.” I got nervous. “The only plot I see is BREASTS.” “That’s because this anime offers a bit of everything.” Jovan hesitantly replies. Dad didn't believe a word we said. “Okay, then let's watch the rest of it.” Dad sits in our room’s couch and watches the episode with us. We don’t say a word as he basically sees “sex in the anime”. Everytime he looks at us, we automatically look away. Dad pauses the episode before it finishes. It feels like we just got caught watching porn. “We will have a serious talk about this later. Now, put these on. We are going to head out soon.” Dad gives us his bag. “Where?” Jovan asks. “You'll find out.” “Oh snap, this means...” I enthusiastically note. “Yes, you will be staying up past your curfew.” “No, inside of this bag is our superhero uniforms, right?” “Sort of.” Dad answers. We take a glance inside of the bag. We are staggered right away. “They are black long sleeved shirts and black jeans.” Dad clarifies. “You forgot SKI MASKS! What are we doing, robbing a bank!” “And, how are these sort of superhero outfits?!” We whine. “Calm down, I chose these outfits because there is a gang out there called “Them” and they wear the same thing. If the police look into you two, they'll just assume it was that gang who did it.” Dad explains. “The person who created that gang has to be an IDIOT.” Jovan adds. “How will they know it was the gang that did it?” I wonder. “I'm going to have you two write a note saying shit about “Them”. It should be pretty believable since you have the outfits.” “But, we are doing good deeds. Aren’t we just giving the cops a reason to let that gang run free?” “Javon, you know Batman and Spiderman. What did they both start off as?” “Vigilantes.” “And did the police automatically presume they were good?” “No.” “So, do you think the cops will praise the gang or focus on them and eventually arrest them?” “The second one.” “Exactly.” “Wouldn't they also be focusing on us?” Jovan asks. “No, they'll just think you're random people apart of “Them”. What, you think the police have someone like L with them.” Dad facetiously utters. “No, I was thinking they might have someone like Near with them.” Jovan jokes. “Shut up.” Wow, Dad somehow made this whole criminal imitating thing make sense. I don't know why, but I'm speeding up. Yeah, that’s clever. “Alright, let’s do this. I'm speeding up.” “Don’t say that.” Dad demands as Jovan and he look displeased. “Anyway, I'll say this. Today, I will be watching over you guys, however this will also be the only time I'm watching over you two so please be careful. Don't beat up “Them” because that would have the police focus on you two afterwards. Don't let the police catch you. Don’t reveal your identities. Make sure you leave the note, saying that you are with the “Them”. Just don’t do nothing dumb.” “Okay.” We obediently say. “Okay now, put those on.” We put on the criminal clothing and head out of the house with Dad. “You’re not going to wear some ridiculous outfit?” “No, Jovan, he is not. Wait, Dad, you should wear a Bane costume. You don’t have his color, but you have his build.” I recommend while feeling exhilarated. “I have a plan if I’m seen so I don’t need a costume. And, Javon, I’m not going to wear a Bane costume. Why would I want to look as dumb as you two?” Dad loudly laughs. That was not funny. “Let’s get going.” Dad grabs us and jumps up to the top of our house. “What the?! Dad, what are you doing?!” Jovan says with a scared look on his face. “It isn’t obvious? We’re going to search for crime.” Ah snap, this is definitely some vigilante shit! This is going to be awesome! We’re going to be jumping across the buildings like the teenage mutant ninja turtles! Dad puts us down. “I’m believing the fact that you can hop across these houses on your own. Don’t fuck up.” Dad orders, looking poker-faced. “Don’t worry, I won’t.” “Do you know where the crime is happening?” Jovan asks as he tries to hold in his excitement. “I have an idea. For now, just follow me.” ALRIGHT! I jump to the house next to ours. “Wait!” Dad commands and I stop. “Wait until we get into town.” “Okay.” We leap across people's houses and eventually reach the town, where there are multiple buildings that are close and connected to each other. “Now, you can go crazy.” “Yeah, THIRTY MINUTES LATER. Why couldn't you drive us to town?” Jovan grouses. “Okay, let's say the police catch you two in the act. How will we look if we're in a car chase with them?” “Oh.” “Even if we escape them, they'll track us by my car. And, didn't you want the vigilante experience?” “Yeah.” “So, what's the problem?” “Nothing.” Jovan lies with an honest face. “Dad, can I use my superspeed now?” “Yeah, you can. It’s just straight up ahead anyway.” I immediately dash across the buildings and leave Jovan and Dad. “Damn. How do you know the crime is straight ahead?” Jovan wonders as they are jumping from building to building. “Because, I can literally see the criminals.” Dad shows Jovan a device that displays the villains’ movements. He sees the criminals sneaking past people in a ridiculous fashion. “Dad, How?” Jovan is dumbfounded. “I have several hidden cameras throughout the entire town. What, you ACTUALLY thought we were going to blindly search for criminals?” “No, I just thought you had a good sense of direction.” Jovan sarcastically replies. “You know how long that would’ve took?” “A couple minutes.” Jovan guesses. “Try a couple hours.” “To look for a crime scene?” “Yeah, this town is small. Believe it or not, crime has decreased this month for some reason.” “Oh.” Dad thinks to himself for a moment and Jovan suddenly gets a text from his phone. “Why did you bring your phone with you?” “Just in case. I got a text from Javon. He says he sees criminals.” Jovan affirms. “He’s THAT far away from us.” “He could have told me faster with his superspeed than a text.” “He doesn’t know that. Come on, let’s get going.” Jovan and Dad continue leaping across the buildings and catch up at me at some time. “Look.” I say as we spot the criminals entering a store. “You two know what to do, right?” Dad asks. “Yeah, we go in there and stop the crime like Batman and Robin.” I answer while feeling animated. “No, like Batman and Batman.” “What?” Jovan adds, looking confused. “There are no sidekicks.” Dad elucidates. “Oh.” Jovan and I utter. “Now, stop the crime. I will be watching you from the sidelines.” “Wait, how will you…” “Don’t worry about it.” Jovan interrupts my sentence as we jump off the building and enter the store. We see 7 thugs with a handful of money and a terrified pharmacist. We also notice some candy, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, and a bunch of medications. “They’re robbing a DRUG STORE!” We deduce in our minds. “Who the hell are they?” “Oh shit, they’re apart of “Them”!” Two of the thugs speak as they see our outfits. “Damn, that sounds so stupid.” We both conclude in our heads. “Wait, if they are with “Them”, then aren’t they on our side?” “Are you two on our side?” Two of the thugs question. “No, we’re the things you dream of when you sleep.” I respond while trying to sound cool. “Dude, shut up. Remember, we’re apart of “Them”.” Jovan whispers in my ear. “You’re going to lynch us?!” One of the thugs alarmingly imagine. What the?! THAT’S NOT A DREAM! “No, we’re “Them”.” Jovan uncomfortably asserts. “I don’t dream about “Them”. Do you dream about “Them”?” “I dream about “Them”.” Two thugs comment. “Enough talk.” Jovan rushes towards to the thugs. Really, the guy with superspeed should be the first one to rush at the thugs. I bolt at them with superspeed and the thugs start shooting at us. The pharmacist stows away behind an aisle of drugs. One of the bullets close in on Jovan. In a flash, Jovan’s blue eyes activate on their own and he avoids the bullet as it almost reaches his left eye. Jovan smiles as he begins eluding the bullets. I easily dodge the bullets and punch one of the thugs through the candy aisle. Then, I quickly uppercut another thug up to a light bulb and the light bulb instantly breaks on contact with the thug’s head. “Wow, these guys are easy.” Afterwards, a bullet nearly reaches the side of my face. So, I decide to sprint to the counter and hide. That was WAY too close! “Oh, I know! You want our money. Well, you’re not getting it!” A thug states while shooting at Jovan. Jovan promptly closes the distance between them and elbows him to the wall. “I need to get out of the thugs’ range.” While Jovan continues evading the bullets, he finds a condom on the ground and throws it towards one of bullets at most opportune time. “Ah shit!” A thug yells as an explosion instantly occurs in front of thugs. Jovan takes advantage of the eruption and quickly finds a cover behind an aisle of drugs where the pharmacist also hided. “You did all that with a condom?” The pharmacist says while looking startled. “Oh yeah, my bad. You won't be able to sell that one.” “Obviously.” The pharmacist looks at the destroyed condom. Jovan observes a strange-looking container and takes the paper off of it. “What the hell? These look like steroids.” Jovan infers. “So, you figured it out.” The pharmacist abruptly goes behind Jovan and puts a knife close to his neck. “I’m impressed. The cops didn’t even realize it and they looked straight at the damn label. I should’ve expected as much from a member of “Them.”” “There’s no way a gang member would figure that out unless they were apart of the gang who did it! I can’t believe this!” Jovan says to himself. “You got any last words before I slit your throat like spaghetti?” The pharmacist wants to know. Out of nowhere, the ground starts shaking. The items in the store are dropping, the lights started flickering, and the ceiling slowly begins tearing down. “What the?! An earthquake?!” The pharmacist says as he slips and falls to the floor. He accidentally throws his knife while I punch a thug across the store. Unfortunately, the thug I hit got... “GOD DAMMMMMMN!!!!!!!” A thug screams after the knife pierces through his left hand. DAMN. That has GOT to hurt. The knife is literally stuck in the thug’s left hand. Everyone, including Jovan and I, give him looks of pity. “That’s it! You two members of “Them” are going to die! AAAAAHHHHHH!” The thug yells as he reloads his gun with the hand that has a knife through it. “AAAAAAHHHHHH!” The thug repeatedly cries and shoots ammo at me. I immediately run away and hide behind the counter since all of the thugs also start shooting at me. “Even with superspeed, he still runs away.” Jovan points out. “You don’t have time to be worried about him.” Jovan is unexpectedly smacked through 2 aisles. “Who the? Ah shit.” Before Jovan’s eyes is the pharmacist. With the bodybuild of Bane. “How is this even possible?!” “It’s possible because of these steroids. It only takes one to get this big and strong.” “Steroids don’t work THIS fast.” Jovan comments as the pharmacist shows him one steroids pill. “Owwwwwwww, I feel like I’m losing my mind!” The pharmacist charges at Jovan and tries to tackle him. Jovan, with a horrified face, scarcely evades his blitz which causes the pharmacist to crash through 2 aisles of beer and liquor. “Shit, is that the pharmacist?!” “Who cares? Shoot the thief in front of us!” Two thugs add as I’m still stuck in at counter, avoiding shots to my body. Did they really just call ME the thief? What can I do? If I get shot, I’m done. Superspeed can’t fix that. “Crap.” One of the thugs say as they all run out of bullets. I guess that’s my cue. I jump out from the counter and dash to the thugs. In a short amount of time, I knock three of the thugs unconscious. “Ha, didn’t take long.” The last thug hastily reloads his gun and starts firing at me. I hurry back to the counter. Now, there’s only one thug. The one with a knife in his hand. “Is he going to keep hiding back there? Whatever, I’ll get him out of there. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” The thug shouts and declares after spotting an object near the counter. He aims at the object and shoots at it. Was he trying to get me? He completely missed. “Ha, your aim is inspiring.” I sarcastically respond while an explosion blows me away. The explosion entirely demolishes the counter and leaves the area with debris. I land towards the thug. “Ah, dammit.” I hopelessly comment and put my hands up. “My aim is inspiring. So inspiring, it’s going to kill a member of “Them”.” He points his gun at me. God, please save me. I don’t even care how you save me. It could be an earthquake or something. The earth begins trembling again. The thug fires at me and misses. “Son of AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, again!” The thug shrieks in anger. I watch as he reloads his gun and the floor quivers again. The thug drops his gun. OH! This is my chance! I bolt towards the thug and give him a quick jab to the face. He falls hard and unconscious to the ground. Finally, that’s the last thug. I don’t know how those earthquakes happened, but THANK GOD. Now, where is Jovan? Unexpectedly, Jovan is hit towards me and we fall into detritus. “Dude, where have you been?” “Fighting the pharmacist.” Jovan painfully answers. “You’re getting your ass kicked by the pharmacist?!” “Why don’t you look in front of you?” I look up and see a Bane look-alike. And, I don't mean the Bane we fought on the first day of school. “Holy shit.” I utter with a speechless face. “Exactly.” Jovan adds. The pharmacist momentarily hurtles towards us and tries to assault us. I run to the other side of the store while Jovan hardly evades the pharmacist. Alright, time to do the punch that blew Everbleed away. I bolt at the pharmacist as Jovan continuously eludes him. Jovan hurriedly ducks underneath the pharmacist as I strike the pharmacist heavily in the stomach. The punch alone blows him out of the shop, leaves a huge hole on a wall, and creates even more rubbish. “I'm so awesome.” I brag with a smile. “You almost hit me along with him.” Jovan speaks out. “What did you expect me to do? Warn you? Dude, I have SUPERSPEED for crying out loud. By the time I warned you, you would've already been out of this store like that “thing” over there.” “Still, give me some sort of signal.” “I can't signal you in microseconds.” I solemnly boast. “Shut up, you're not even that fast.” “Jovan, Javon, quit it.” Dad somehow commands. “What the? Am I hearing Dad? Because, I'm definitely not seeing him.” I comment. “Really? It's the invisible earpieces I gave you two a couple hours ago.” Dad affirms. “Oh yeah, I remember.” Jovan pretends to say with emotion. “You two really forgot. I gave you them today!” Dad yells at us through the earpieces. “Yeah, Dad, I honestly forgot.” I respond, feeling pathetic. “Wow, okay. Hurry up and write a note, saying that crap about “Them”. After that, get out of there.” “Yes, Dad.” We both reply. “So, did you bring the paper?” Jovan asks. “Uh…” I search all of my pockets and find nothing. “Are you serious?!” “Shut the hell up. I don’t want Dad to hear.” I mumble in Jovan’s ear. “I can hear you. You literally whispered it in the earpiece.” Dad points out. “You two better think of something because the cops are close to this area.” Okay, I have to find something to write on. I already have a marker. Jovan and I search the entire store. “I found nothing. Not even a receipt.” Jovan guarantees. Dammit! There’s nothing! “Come on, what can I write on?!” I desperately wonder while looking at the unconscious thugs. And, a light bulb appeared on top of my head. I smirk at Jovan. “Wait, are you seriously considering that?” “Yes.” I answer. “No, that’s just disrespectful.” “We don’t have any other choice.” “Yeah, we do. You can just write on the counter.” “That’s destroyed. Jovan, this is the only option.” I walk towards the unconscious thug with a knife through his hand. I write on his left hand “This is what you get when you mess with “Them”.” “You’re such a dick. Why did you choose him? Out of ALL the thugs you could have chose. And, you wrote it on his LEFT hand.” “One, he almost killed me. Two, it’s more noticeable that way. Plus, this marker is permanent.” “Now, I feel even more bad for that thief.” Jovan adds. “Oh, look at that. I found a receipt. Well, it's too late now. Let's get out of here.” “And, I’m the asshole?” Jovan wonders in his head. We get out of the drug store and hurry back to our house with Dad. “So, based on what I saw, I'd say you two did horrible.” Dad concludes. “Horrible?” We note. “Both of you were too scared to attack them head on.” “I attacked them head on.” “So did I.” Jovan and I mention. “At first, Javon, yeah. But, once the bullet went past your face, you ran back to the counter. Jovan, you only knocked out one thug, then you dodged the rest of them.” “I was fighting the pharmacist.” “Dad, I almost died.” We claim. “Also, you both were in situations where you could have died, yet you chose to do nothing about it. I had to pound the ground to save you.” “Wait, that was you?” Jovan says. “Actually, that makes sense. Earthquakes don't happen at night.” Jovan and Dad directly look at me with a dumbfounded face for a whole minute. “You can't be afraid anymore. Your fear has to go or that WILL be the reason you die. You also need to realize that you're not human. I'd rather you have the mindset of nothing can hurt you than the mindset of everything can hurt you. You two did complete your mission, still if I wasn’t watching you, you two would have been dead.” Dad clarifies. Dad's right. Our fear could have easily lead to our deaths. We really could have died. How can I be terrified of this when I've been dreaming of it? “I need to get my act together. To get rid of my fear.” Jovan decides in his mind. “Okay, stop the sad faces. You didn't die so it's fine. You still defeated the thugs. And, I decided to continue watching you for a little longer. Just know that from here on out, you're not normal people, you're members of “Them”.” Dad jokes to change the mood. “Really, Dad.” “Hahaha…” We laugh with joy. Just like that, Dad made us feel better. At the meantime, the police make it the trashed drug store. Surprisingly, an unknown purple haired female in a superhero suit watches as the police enter it.